New Delhi: Numerous videos have surfaced on the Chinese social media platform Douyin ( a Chinese version of TikTok), wherein Indian singer and composer Bappi Lahiri’s classic “Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja” has been used as a soft protest against country’s zero Covid policy. Anguished and frustrated by dreaded lockdowns, Chinese nationals are sharing the track sung in Mandarin as “Jie mi, jie mi”, which means “Give me rice, give me rice”.
Owing to the long-lasting lockdown as well as strict administrational policies, people are suffering from a lack of food items and other essential needs. The videos happened to remain out of sight from the Chinese censors, which are swift with dismissing any posts with the slightest hint of being critical of the government or their policies.
Locked down Chinese signing Jie Mi (give me rice)!#JieMi #CovidIsNotOver #GiveMeRice #JimmyJimmy#China #Lockdown #COVID19 #DiscoDancer pic.twitter.com/IFSM7LsmhV
— Durgesh Dwivedi ✍? ?????? (@durgeshdwivedi) October 31, 2022
For the unversed, composed by Lahiri and sung by Parvati Khan, ‘Jimmy Jimmy’ title was featured in popular 1982 movie “Disco Dancer”.
Indian cinema has garnered immense popularity among the Chinese population since the era of the classic 50s and 60s to the present times when Hindi and South titles including “3 Idiots”, “Dangal”, “Bahubali”, and others earning lauds in the country.
According to the reports, various cities in the country are under suffering from strict lockdowns for weeks, including Shanghai, wherein a large population of more than 25 million are restricted to their homes.
In multiple social media posts, the Chinese security forces can be seen cracking down on citizens holding protests against the strict Covid norms and demanding basic needs.
